COMPASS Reading Section

The length of the reading section of the COMPASS test depends on your reading skills. You will have more reading passages and questions if you have stronger reading skills and fewer selections if your reading skills are more basic. The reading passages come from a variety of content areas and disciplines.

This page describes the reading section of the test and gives two
short passages with comprehension questions for practice: one
from the Humanities (literature), and one practical reading passage.
When you have finished return to the "Sample Questions"
page and select reading in the "More Sample Questions"
section. These samples are more like the actual COMPASS test
selections. Scroll down to practice reading three additional
passages and answering questions.

The COMPASS reading tests ask three types of questions: referring
questions with answers that are stated in the passage reasoning
questions that require critical understanding or making inferences,
and questions about the meaning of difficult or unfamiliar
vocabulary based on context clues and how they are used in the passage.

Reading Review

Once you are familiar with what you'll be asked to read and the types
of questions, you can improve your reading comprehension by practicing.
Below are some online resources that provide reading comprehension
practice or reading instruction to help you prepare